Outside, the rain began to beat harder against the floor-to-ceiling windows, blurring the yellow taxi lights on the street below.

The air in the boardroom smelled of wet wool, expensive leather, and old paper.

My heart hammered against my ribs so hard it felt painful.

I looked down at the photocopied pages on the table, reading the forged diagnoses.

They had listed dates, times, and medication dosages that I had never heard of.

They made me look like a monster who could not be trusted alone with her own baby.

“If you do this, Richard, you will destroy the family,” Hayes said, setting his briefcase on the conference table.

“The family is already fractured,” Richard said, checking his gold watch.

“You have exactly five minutes before the media receives the digital copies.”

“The choice is yours, Nathan.”

“Sign the voting trust agreement, hand over the shares, and Emily keeps her daughter.”

“Refuse, and you can spend the next five years fighting the state for custody of a child you barely know.”

Nathan looked at me, his eyes filled with a desperate, agonizing conflict.